How can I publish in OA without Read & Publish agreements?

Open Access publishing is not limited to Read & Publish agreements. Today, there are a variety of Open Access routes, recognized by UNIL and major funding agencies, that allow research results to continue to be freely accessible.

These include:

• The green route (depositing and sharing in IRIS);
• The Gold route (publication in fully Open Access journals, with payment of APCs);
• The Diamond route (Open Access journals with no publication fees for authors).

As with the “Read” component, the terms of the “Publish” component following the release of the Read & Publish agreements have not yet been finalized. They will depend on publishers, contractual frameworks, and decisions made at the institutional and national levels.

More detailed information will be provided as analyses and negotiations progress and will be available on this wiki.

In the meantime, researchers are encouraged to favor recognized Open Access routes, particularly the green route, and to take advantage of the support offered by libraries.the publication support service at Unil (open.access@unil.ch) and CHUV/Unisanté (open.access@chuv.ch).

Is the green route sufficient?

Yes, the green route is a legitimate Open Access route, both for UNIL and for many funding bodies, subject to certain conditions.

The SNSF authorizes secondary publication in institutional databases (IRIS) or general databases (arxiv.org, PubMed, Europe PMC, or Zenodo) for:

• Articles initially published in closed access, provided that access to the publication is possible without embargo. However, if the article is the result of a project submitted to the SNSF before January 1, 2023, a six-month embargo is permitted.
• Final manuscripts, i.e., the latest version of the article incorporating all changes requested by peers, but before layout by the publisher. This version must be distributed under a CC-BY license.

It is important to note that archiving on personal pages or academic social networks (such as ResearchGate or Academia) does not guarantee long-term archiving, access without an account, or good visibility. This type of archiving is therefore not considered Open Access.